Swing joint



Nov. 28, 1950 R. o. MONROE 23,298

' SWING JOINT Original Filed April 50, 194'! FIE]; I-

HULLU ElVIUNR'UE Reissued Nov. 2%, 1950 SWING JOINT EolloO. Monroe,Three Rivers, lWiclL, assignor to The Johnson Corporation, Three Rivers,Mich, a corporation of Michigan Original No. 2,497,183, dated February14, 1950,

Serial No. 744,855, April 30, 1947.

Application for reissue May 19, 1950, Serial No. 163,281

3 Claims.

Matter enclosed in heavy brackets [.1 appears in the original patent butforms no part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italicsindicates The present invention relates to'irnprovements in swing jointsrequired to introduce steam and water into platen presses and the like.

Because of operational strain, weight of piping, and other conditionspeculiar to the connection of a plurality of joints to the movable andstationary sections of platen presses and similar structures, rotaryjoints of the type disclosed in my Patent 2,385,421 cannot be used, asthere is no adequate support for the joint.

Then it becomes an object of the present in-,

vention to provide an improved joint for both rotary and swing servicewhich is self-supporting.

Another object is to provide a joint of the type described in which thecomponent parts of the joint are self-supporting, and in which a seal isprovided with sufiicient float to compensate itself to commercialmanufacturing tolerances, irregular wear of the sealing parts, and anyminor tendency toward oscillation of the component parts of the jointsin service.

Another object is to provide a fluid joint of a self-supportingcharacter in which a conduit or pipe section is supported foroscillating or rotary movement around its longitudinal axis in a guidesupported in a fixed part of the joint, the guide being located to oneside of a ball and socket type of sea1 embracing the pipe section withone element of the seal floated between the pipe section and the fixedpart of the joint.

A further object is to provide a fluid joint as defined in the precedingparagraphs in which the guide and floated part of the seal are of carbongraphite construction. I

These and other objects and advantages inherent in the combination andconstruction of the parts of this invention will be apparent from aconsideration of the specification with the appended claims andaccompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. I is a View in section of a self-supporting fluid joint embodyingthe present invention, and

Fig. II is a view in section showing a modification of the structurewhich supports the pipe section during its relative movement.

In Fig. I the joint In is shown as comprising a cup-shaped body portionl2 defining an axially positioned aperture l4, and enclosing acylindrical chamber i6 within which the various parts are positioned.The body portion I2 is formed with an attachment flange i8 which mateswith the attachment flange 20 of the fitting Or connecting portion 22,the attachment flanges i8 and 20 being held together by attachmentscrews the additions made by reissue 24. The fitting 22 encloses a fluidconduit 24 and presents a suitably threaded portion 25 for attachment toa source of fluid, not shown, and presents to the chamber l'i arelatively flat circular surface 28, the function of which will appearlater, and the annular shou der 30 which fits snugly against the innerwall 32 of the body portion 12 when the parts thus far described areassembled, to aid in the positioning and sealing action of gasket 34.

The pipe 36 has a threaded end 38, and a plain end 4 3 to define thefluid conduit 42, which is normally positioned concentric to the end Mof the fluid conduit 24. The pipe 36 projects through the aperture I4into the chamber i6, wherein it supports the sealing portion At, whichis fixed and sealed to the pipe 36 for movement therewith. The sealingportion 46 is preferably a spherical segment, radially bored to receivethe pipe 36, and presenting a convex spherical surface 48 for engagementwith the concave spherical surface 50 of the annular sealing and thrustring 52. The sealing ring 52 bears against the flat inner surface 54 ofbody portion I2, and I prefer to have it of a smaller diameter than theinside diameter of the body portion l2, so that the sealing ring 52 doesnot react to perform part of the stabilizing action, and no interferenceis set up to its slight floating action. The sealing ring 52 may be ofcarbon graphite and the sealing bearing in of some such material asbronze, to provide members with differing wearing characteristics underfriction.

To stabilize the pipe 35 and to maintain it in axial alignment with thebody portion I2, I provide an annular guide 55 with its outerperipheries 58 in bearing engagement with the inner surface 32 of thebody portion i2, and with its inner periphery 5B in bearing engagementwith the pipe 35. The pipe 3!. is free to rotate Within the guide 55,and the peripheries 58 of the guide 56 maintain the pipe 35 concentricto the axis of the body portion H2. The spring 52, which is seated onthe surface 28, is also seated on portion 64 of the guide 55, and tendsto urge the guide 56 against the thrust ring ii-zi, which urges thesealing bearing as against the sealing ring 52. The thrust ring 65 ispreferably of carbon graphite and the guide portion 56 of some materialsuch as bronze.

In the modification shown in Fig. II, I have substituted a combinationguide and thrust ring 10, preferably made from some such material ascarbon graphite, for the guide 5 5 and the thrust ring 66. The outersurface 12 of guide it! is in ativto thebo'dy IZ and-12', 1 V f a'ndsocket s'eal'ingaction of 'thefparts ifi, 46 and 52:52 this-oscillationwill cause leakage.

bearing relationship with the inner surface 32' of thebody%-portion'l-2"and the inner surface is in bearing relationship withthepipe 36. The spring 62 urges the combination guide and thrust bearing10 against the sealing portion 46 which is in turn urged against theannular seal ring 52. It has been found through experiment that thecarbon graphite guide 'HFhas Wear ehairacteristics superior tothose-'-obtained*wlin'the metal guide 56 is used, while the jointretains its self-supporting and sealing features.

In the manufacture of thestructure disclosed, the initial clearancebetween the oiits'ide diameter of the guides 56 and 10 and the inside ofthe fixed 7, body I2 and I2 is in the order of .005". As there =is-=' norelative movementbetween these parts; the wear in servide-iS-hil. 1Between theoutside'diameter of the ends 40 and 40' of the pipe and theinside diameter of-the guides 55 and it, the initial running clearanceisin the order of 1003'. l Du'i'ing anact-ual test of the joint disclosedin 'FigwII, "continuous operation atI'YSO RSPIMrWith water pressurebetween fortyend fifty' pounds per square inch'over a'long period oftime only increa'sed the interior running clearance of .063" in=theorder' of 10015 to .002. Any'slight' tilting f thepipes 35' and 36'due to "the initialclear- 'ance or increase in" 'clearance due to wear Imay wall of said body portion, a fixed pipe fitting attached" to said-bodyaportionfa rotatable connecting *pl-pe proj ecting through" saidaperture with an all round clearance, a convex-raced sealing ringaxially received over said pipe and conerected thereto for movementtherewith, a concave-faced sealing ring floatingly positioned bering andsaid body portion and h aid first ring to provide a seal *betiveemsaidpipe and body, said concave faced seali-ng ring having-clearance withthe said pipe and" With-=the=-body portion, whereby to permitthe'=rin'g-toa-partake of a slight floating movement in a directionperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pipe to accommodate slighttilting movements of --the pipe a guidedelescopically receivedover-s'a-id: pipe andwithirf -said bodywortion and maintaining said pipein axial alignment with said body portion, and spring meansres-iliently-urgin'g said-guide toward said rings.

- -3. A rotary: ffl'uid joint comprising d rotary member havingacsph'eri'cal segm'ental sealing portion; 5a fixed "member, acylindrical-= carbon "graphite sleeve positioned between said membersand-concentric therewith to'pro'bide =abearing J01" saz'drotarymemberwith" respect to said -fia'ed member, a carbongraphitesealing ringh'avingn I spherical segmental sealing portion' complemenresult inoscillation thereof upon 'rnovement 'rel- Except for theball tary tosaid first "sealing." poi'tion,""and' "engaging therewith -to formaseal, said ring being so J dimensioned with "respect to' suid members asto i pmoide clearance therewith to enable limited Having described myinvention, what I claim 7 anddesire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

' 1. A finidjcintcomprising a 'cup sha'ped body portiongan attachmentflange on said body' portion; a fitting adapted for attachment to arelatively -stationary part and presenting 'an athmenafl'ang'e tojoinwithsaid first flange, nipple; movable on'its longitudinalaxiaproject'ing' through an opening in'said bodyportion said openingproviding circumferential clearance with the nipple, a sphericalsegmental sealing portion on'saidnipple, a spherical segmental seal-"ing 'riztg" floatingly mounted within said body porn' insealing'relati'onship with said-sealing porands'a'id' bodyportion, acylindrical guide in hi ch oneend' ofsaid "nipple is journaled'andnsaidbodyportion', and. a. spring seatedon d guide adapted to urge saidguide against searing -por ion- 2. A self supporting pipe joint'forrelatively fniovable pipesections, comprising a cup-shaped'bodyp'orti'on having an" aperture defined in 'one floating movement ofsaid ring relative to said fixed mia'mberwith 1 said'nealing portions inseal- 1129' reZdtionsIiipIa radial I face on said ring" 'to' prov'z'de as'edlingpdrtion on the side'of said ring v npposite 'said secondsealingportion; a radial face en said fixed member to 'iibfovide 'a' sealing;portion enyageableibithsaid fiTStradiaZ fa'ce'to form i a seaUandda-iali'y acting. spring-meanspositioned between saidmembers-70Wholding' saidsealing r ing between' the sli'id isealina'portions 'ofsaid members.

0: MONROE.

-=""-REFERENGES CITED The following" references are of record iri the Ifile" Of this patent or the 'oii'ginal patent:

UNITED "STATES PATENTS Burkhar'dt May=7;'*194l)

